Glencore Plc, the miner and commodities trader led by billionaire Ivan Glasenberg, has made a takeover approach for U.S. grain trader Bunge Ltd., according to a person with knowledge of the situation, asking not to be named discussing a private matter.

Bunge, based in White Plains, New York, has a market value of about $11.3 billion. The shares jumped as much as 17 percent today after the Wall Street Journal reported Glencore’s approach.

Bunge didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. A Glencore official declined to comment.

Last month, Chris Mahoney, who runs Glencore’s agriculture unit, said in an interview that the company was trying to expand in the U.S., the world’s largest grain market.

"If we could fill the gap and adhere to our returns threshold, we will do it, but it’s proving not so easy," he said. “We have looked in the U.S., it’s no secret. There aren’t any willing sellers.”

Peter Grauer, the chairman of Bloomberg LP, is a senior independent non-executive director at Glencore.